INTERVIEW: ‘Idol’ Joshua Ledet Claims Jimmy Iovine Was ‘Fake’ on TV

Of the four judges/mentors on “American Idol,” Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine usually played the role of “bad cop,” offering up at times brutally harsh critiques of performances. Season eleven top three finalist Joshua Ledet didn’t bother to listen.

“I didn’t pay attention to Jimmy,” Ledet admitted on “The Ralphie Radio Show.” “It was fake. I just listened to the judges.”

After mentioning that Iovine often complimented the R&B singer, Ledet elaborated on why he didn’t care for the record executive’s TV persona.

“I just find it quite odd that there were people on the show that gave great performances and the judges thought they were great and the audience and the whole world thought they were great and he was the only one that thought it was horrible,” Ledet said. “It’s obvious that stuff was done for TV.”

Ledet said that off camera, Iovine was as nice as could be. And yet despite not enjoying his critiques, the singer would not rule out signing with Interscope.

“I just sing, I just sing,” he said of his future plans. “It doesn’t matter if I sell or not. As long as I can make real music and good music and people can listen to it. If people don’t like it at the end of the day, I think that’s their problem and they should just switch and listen to something else but I just like to make real music.”